by Angela Shah
The buzz over this year’s South By Southwest’s Interactive festival is gathering momentum. A few weeks ago, we wrote that Mark Cuban would be making his debut at the annual tech mega-conference, emcee-ing a pitch day for startups specializing in pediatric health innovations.
On Tuesday evening, the organizers of the Hatch pitch competition, which focuses on early stage technology companies, announced a dozen startups from around the country—and one from Spain—that will present at SXSW March 16.
Among them is Houston’s Procyrion, a medical device company that makes Aortix, a thinner-than-a-pencil circulatory support pump that can be implanted in the aorta via a catheter. The device is designed to act like a crutch, helping patients with damaged hearts push more blood through the circulatory system and on to vital organs.
Three winners will be selected; the startups will receive consultations and other services as prizes.